We thank Ms Claire Marie Ho for her support in our journey towards reducing the carbon footprint of public transport (Electric buses a step in the right direction, Nov 10).

As Ms Ho pointed out, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is committed to having a 100 per cent cleaner energy bus fleet by 2040. To prepare for this goal, we have started deploying diesel hybrid buses and electric buses.

Of the initial batch of 60 electric buses, 25 of them are currently in service. This is an important first step that will help us gain operational and technical insights into deploying and maintaining these buses. It will also allow us to better understand their associated life cycle costs. As electric bus technologies mature and gain wider adoption, we expect to have more choices at lower costs in future.

Our flagship electric buses have been deployed on selected services across Singapore and they serve alongside regular buses. Although the electric buses have about 10 per cent lower capacity, the manner of deployment ensures minimal impact on availability for each service.

Yeo Teck Guan

Senior Group Director, Public Transport

Land Transport Authority